Pencil lead pointer

ABSTRACT

A pocket size lead pointer has a hollow housing bottom and a telescoping cap having a central pencil entering hole in its top. Finger tip depressions at either end of the housing bottom are offset laterally from the pencil hole so that the pointer may be rotated about a finger tip as pivot by manually moving the pencil in a circular path. A pencil guide bushing in the top hole secures a blade and its support to the cap interiorly of the housing. A lead guide passage axially aligned with the entrance and contiguous to the blade is spaced from the pencil guide more than half the heighth of the housing.

0 United States Patent 1151 3,659,637 Condon 1 May 2, 1972 [54] PENCIL LEAD POINTER 2,615,426 10/1952 Fryer ..l44/28.6 Inventor: Robe" s. Condon H2 Cindy Lane, Bep 3,398,773 8/1968 Dahle ..144/28.1

lin, Conn- 06 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Filed: Jan. 11,19 166,807 9/1950 Austria ..l45/3.3l [21] APPLNO': los'lss Primary Examiner-Theron E. Condon Related Application Data Assistant Examiner-Neil Abrams Attorney-Bums & Jenney [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 806,512, Mar. 12,

1969, abandoned. [57] ABSTRACT U.S. Cl ..l45/3.3l, l44/28.l 1

A pocket size lead pointer has a hollow housing-bottom and a "343] 23/08 telescoping cap having a central pencil enteringhole in its top. Field of Search ..144/2s.1, 28.6, 28,8, 28.9, Fmge' t1P delpressms g g bmwm are 144,281], 2&72; 145/32, 33 3A 35, 3.6 331, offset lateral y from the penci ho e sot at t e pointer rnay be 332 3.61 rotated about a finger tip as pivot by manually moving the pencil in a circular path. A pencil guide bushing in the top hole secures a blade and its support to the cap interiorly of the [56] References Cited housing. A lead guide passage axially aligned with the en- UNITED STATES PATENTS tratce and clpntikgliarlcui tt;1 thehbllladfe }is spaced from the pencil uiemoretan te e1 tote ousm. 1,878,617 9/1932 Bair ..l44/28.11 g g g 2,557,646 6/1951 Fugle ..145/3.3l 2Claims, 7Drawing Figures b.- 20 7 l 20b lZb :f kzo 4 20 2b ell i "7 m 24 4 22 W 23 15 l l 25 54 4 PENCIL LEAD POINTER CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 806,512 filed Mar. 12, I969, now abandoned by the same applicant.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a pencil lead pointer and more particularly to a pocket-size pointer which can be manually spun about a finger tip.

Pencil lead pointers heretofore have been large motordriven pointers which are expensive, crank-driven pointers or spinning pointers which are bulky and require afi'lxation of a pivot rod to a fixed object, or hand-held pointers which require the pointer to be held in one hand while the pencil is rotated tum-by-turn with the other hand which is a slow process.

The principal object of the invention, accordingly, is to provide a manually operated pointer which may be economically made and which can be operated substantially as rapidly as a motor-driven pointer.

A further important object is to provide a lead pointer having widely spaced bearing means for the pencil adapted to support the pencil firmly centered so that the pointer may be spun around a finger tip as pivot without breaking the lead point.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention contemplates a small hollow housing with a separable cap which has a pencil entrance at the center of its top. A blade support, inside the housing, has a blade secured thereto contiguous to a lead guide passage and is secured to the cap. The pencil entrance and lead guide passage are axially aligned and spaced apart so that the lead guide passage is nearer the bottom of the housing than the top. The bottom of the housing has depression means therein so that a finger tip axially offset from the entrance-passage axis may be used as a pivot for spinning the pointer therearound.

A generally annular, breechblock type of nut bushing in the pencil entrance acts as a pencil guide closely fitting about the pencil inserted therein. The nut may be removed and replaced with another having a central opening of different diameter for different sizes of pencils. The nut secures the blade support to the housing cap, the cap and blade and its support being removable as a unit for emptying the housing or removing broken lead tips from the blade guide.

The closely fitting pencil guide and the lead guide are spaced so that breakage of the lead tip is kept to a minimum when the pointer is spun about a finger tip at the bottom of the housing.

The housing, its cap, the nut and blade support are adapted to be of molded plastic so that the pointer may be economically manufactured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of a pointer according to the invention being spun manually;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged bottom' plan view of the pointer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the pencil guide bushing thereof;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the top portion of the pointer cover with bushing removed and showing portions of the blade support; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 3 showing a modified form of housing.

LII

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. l-4, inclusive, the pointer 10 comprises a hollow, generally rectangular housing 11 with rounded edges, having a cover or cap 12, a body and integral blade support 13, a pencil guide bushing or annular nut 14 securing the body to the cap, and a blade 15 secured to the blade support 13. Directly under the central opening or pencil guide of the bushing 14, two intenneshed brushes 16 are secured to the cap 12 to prevent spilling of graphite dust from the housing and for wiping dust from a pencil 17 when it is withdrawn from the pencil guide.

The bottom portion of the housing 11 serves as a graphite collector and its cap 12 fits telescopically over its upper end, the bottom portion having small protruding ridges 11a and the cap having cooperating ridges 12a along the sides of the pointer for interengagement as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3 and in section in FIG. 4.

The body or blade support 13 is secured to the cap 12 by the bushing 14, as hereinafter described, the support 13 having portions 18 extending upward at either side to contact the bottom of the cap at 19 at either end of the oblong cap, as shown in FIG. 3.

The support 13 also has endwise projecting flanges 20, at either side in FIG. 3, which terminate in small projecting ridges 20b contacting mating ridges 12b in the cap and the flanges 20 are adapted to rest on the top of the housing bottom 11 when the cap 12 is in place.

At either end side, in FIG. 3, the support 13 extends downward at 21 to a portion 22 in which there is a tapered lead guide passage 23 axially aligned with bushing 14. Contiguous to the lead guide 23, the hard carbide blade 15 for shaping the lead point, as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,515,187 issued June 2, 1970 to applicant, is secured by screws 24 and adjustable by screw 25. The top of portion 22 between portions 21 is provided with a tapered countersink surface 26 for guiding the pencil lead into the guide passage 23 and above the countersink surface the support is open at either side to the interior of housing 11, as indicated at 27.

Referring to FIG. 5, the breechblock type of nut or bushing 14, securing support 13 to the cap 12, has a central opening 28 providing a pencil guide for the pointer. Bushings 14 with openings 28 of different diameters may be provided for different size pencils.

Bushing 14 has an upper end with diametrically opposite projecting large wings 29. The wings 29 are connected by a tubular portion 30, FIG. 4, to a pair of smaller, diametrically opposite, projecting wings 31 projecting in a direction degrees from the wings 29.

Referring to FIG. 6, the housing cap 12 has two inset, substantially quarter circular, opposed flanges 32 with a segmental portion 33 of an opening therebetween. The wings 31 of bushing 14 may be dropped through the opening 33 and the bushing may then be turned so that the wings 29 of the bushing cover the flanges 32.

The blade support 13 has an inwardly projecting flange 34 at the top of portion 18 at either side, as shown in FIG. 4, below which the wings 31 of the bushing lie when the bushing is turned securing the bushing to the support 13. As best seen in FIG. 5, the wings 31 have depressions 35 therein into which a small upward projection 36 on each flange 31 snaps to lock bushing 14 in position, as shown in FIG. 4. Portions 18 of the support and the attached flanges 34 are shown in FIG. 6. A coin applied against one side of a wing 29 may be used to turn bushing 14 into locked position or to turn the bushing for removal.

Referring to FIG. 2, the bottom 37 of housing 11 may be provided with feet 38 and, preferably, has two semispherical depressions 39 formed at the ends of the elongated bottom. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, the bottom 37' of a modified form of housing 11 may have a single depression surrounded by a pendant flange 40.

In operation, alter the correct bushing 14 has been assembled, the pencil 17 is inserted in the pencil guide hole 28 and the projecting lead of the pencil is guided by the countersink surface 26 into the pencil guide passage 23. A finger tip of the operator is inserted in one of the depressions 39, the depression being easy to find because of being located at one end or the other of the bottom 37, and the pointer is spun about the finger tip as a pivot by moving the pencil in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 1.

The pointer 10 is only about 2 6 inches long and l 95 inches wide by about three-fourths inch thick and each of the depressions 39 .are offset only about one-half inch from the pencilguideJead-guide axis so that the pointer may be spun at a rapid rate with little effort. The blade support 13 extends more than half way into the interior of the pointer so that blade 15 and lead guide 23 are centered approximately between top and bottom of the device. This wide spacing of the pencil guiding means, coupled with the snug fit of the pencil in the pencil guide hole, made possible by the replaceable bushing 14, ensures that the pencil point will normally not be broken by transverse movement or angular bending of the pencil in the device.

The device is pocket size and mobile. No attachment of a pivot rod or other pivot means is necessary so that the pointer may be used while working at modern large tilted boards where a table surface is not available.

It will be appreciated that although the pencil 17 shown is a draftsmans mechanical pencil the pointer 10 may also be used with a conventional pencil having been first sharpened to expose a relatively long lead.

lclaim:

1. A pocket size lead pointer, comprising: a hollow housing having a telescopically fitting removable cap, an annular bushing forming a close-fitting pencil entrance removably secured centrally of the cap top, a blade support member within the housing secured to the cap, a blade secured to the support member and a tapered lead guide passage in the member in juxtaposition thereto, the lead guide passage being axially aligned with and spaced from the pencil entrance and being at least as near the bottom as the top of the housing, the blade being at one side of the passage and having a cutting edge protruding into the passage at that one side, and a semispherical depression in the housing bottom at each side, each depression being laterally spaced from the entrance-passage axis extended a distance less than the distance between entrance and passage, whereby a pencil inserted in the entrance and having its lead in the passage may be manually moved in a circular path about a finger tip in a chosen depression as a pivot to rotate the blade about the lead, one depression for increased cutting action of the blade and the other depression for decreased cutting action.

2. A pencil lead pointer, comprising: a housing having a hole in the top thereof, a breechblock bushing in the hole having a round central opening adapted to rotatably receive a pencil therein, a blade support-in the housing and having a blade and a lead-guide passage in juxtaposition thereon, the bushing having transversely projecting and vertically and angularly spaced flanges at the top and bottom thereof for securing together the housing and the blade support when inserted in the hole and given a quarter turn with the bushing central opening and the lead-guide passage axially aligned, the bushing being removable for substitution by another bushing having a different sized central opening. 

1. A pocket size lead pointer, comprising: a hollow housing having a telescopically fitting removable cap, an annular bushing forming a close-fitting pencil entrance removably secured centrally of the cap top, a blade support member within the housing secured to the cap, a blade secured to the support member and a tapered lead guide passage in the member in juxtaposition thereto, the lead guide passage being axially aligned with and spaced from the pencil entrance and being at least as near the bottom as the top of the housing, the blade being at one side of the passage and having a cutting edge protruding into the passage at that one side, and a semispherical depression in the housing bottom at each side, each depression being laterally spaced from the entrance-passage axis extended a distance less than the distance between entrance and passage, whereby a pencil inserted in the entrance and having its lead in the passage may be manually moved in a circular path about a finger tip in a chosen depression as a pivot to rotate the blade about the lead, one depression for increased cutting action of the blade and the other depression for decreased cutting action.
 2. A pencil lead pointer, comprising: a housing having a hole in the top thereof, a breechblock bushing in the hole having a round central opening adapted to rotatably receive a pencil therein, a blade support in the housing and having a blade and a lead-guide passage in juxtaposition thereon, the bushing having transversely projecting and vertically and angularly spaced flanges at the top and bottom thereof for securing together the housing and the blade support when inserted in the hole and given a quarter turn with the bushing cEntral opening and the lead-guide passage axially aligned, the bushing being removable for substitution by another bushing having a different sized central opening. 